An Ivory box of assorted chocolates
by Shadeehue
Summary: An assortment of drabbles with different genres, themes, universes and flavours focusing on Neji and Tenten. Enjoy and don't forget to review!
1. Spying

This is my first drabble, and it's going to be a mix of AU etc. It may also be tied into some of my other Nejiten fics and if it is I'll try to remember to put a note at the beginning saying which particular fic it's related to. If it'sAU I'll also make a note of that... if I remember

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters**

* * *

"Why am I doing this again?" grumbled Neji as he crept after Tenten as they sneaked towards the training ground.

"We're working on our stealth," snapped Tenten testily as she quickly ran up a tree and leapt on to a closer branch that offered her a better viewpoint.

Neji landed silently beside her and crossed his arms. "You just want to skip training with me and spy on your idol instead. My training methods are not THAT torturous."

Tenten sniffed disdainfully, "I bet Tsunade-sama's training methods are a lot better than yours."

Suddenly there was an explosion and Sakura ran screaming into the clearing. The blonde Godaime followed closely behind her, riding on the giant slug she summoned, Katsuyu. The slug queen began shooting multiple balls of acid at Sakura who dodged them desperately, many of them missed her by a hair and some even managed to singe her clothes.

Neji and Tenten silently watched the training session and sweat dropped as Sakura frantically tried to evade the acid raining down at her with frightening accuracy whilst Tsunade threw kunai at her and shouted at her to stop closing her eyes and to watch her opponent's movements. Sakura, somehow managing to avoid death ran into the forest screaming hysterically, taking the training session further away as Katsuyu and Tsunade followed her swiftly in pursuit.

The Hyuuga prodigy turned to the Weapons mistress with a raised eyebrow, "Her training methods are better than mine?"

Tenten didn't answer and continued to stare after the trail of destruction Katsuyu had left behind with a mixture of awe and horror. Trees were decimated, the ground was pockmarked with acid burns and smoke was still rising from where acid had hit the ground and trees.

Neji placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently, breaking her out of her trance. "Let's go."

She nodded blankly and followed her team mate as they leapt through the trees back towards the village.

"Tenten?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you still jealous that you aren't training under Tsunade-sama?"

Tenten thought about Sakura's terrified screams and the acid...

"No..."

* * *

**Author's note**: Mwahaha I am such a procrastinator. I wrote this a while ago but never got around to posting it up. I need more ideas for drabbles so feel free to give me interesting challenges but I'll only take up suggestions that I get a good idea for and don't worry I'll credit you for it. I have a lot of assignments at the moment so I won't be updating very regularly. Thanks for reading and please review!


	2. Skirmish

Thank you niwichan2468 and Latte for reviewing! Latte I should probably warn you I'm a huge Neji/Tenten fan so I apologise in advance because I probably will have romance in the future. But don't let that put you off:P

Neji is just too cool, I want to keep him for myself as well.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Neji :(**

This is probably abit AUish since Neji isn't using his Byakugan. A little silly at the end but I couldn't think of a better one shrugs oh well, enjoy!

* * *

Tenten studied her prey from behind the tree. He was waiting for her behind the wall; she just needed to figure out a way to lure him out into the open so she could take him down. Neji had already taken down her team member Lee with a very low blow to a very tender place. She could remember her skinny hyperactive team mate's high pitch howl of pain as he dropped the gun he was holding and doubled over, tears brimming in his round eyes. Gai-sensei had come running out from his cover to comfort his favourite student so Tenten took that opportunity to take him down. But she had aimed for his helmet instead of his family jewels. She refused to sink as low as Neji. 

Neji crouched behind the wall wondering where Tenten was hiding. If only he could lure her out of her hiding place, either that or make her run out of bullets, then he would win the game. He checked his ammo and grimaced, he didn't have many paintballs left. Originally, he hadn't been overly keen on Gai-sensei's "youthfully original" training idea. Shooting paintballs at each other had seemed silly at first but now he was actually having fun. He had managed to get Lee out first and he had a feeling Tenten was going to seek revenge on him. It wasn't like he had ruined all possibility of Lee ever having children; Lee had been a fair distance away from him so the impact hadn't been that great. In his opinion, it wouldn't have been a great loss anyway.

Tenten slowly wriggled her way through the bushes and then crawled as silently as she could to her new position behind the remains of an old rundown building. She grinned; she could see that Neji had his back to her. Tenten made a run for the tree she planned to make her assault on him from. He turned, hearing the noise and took a few shots but she slid behind the tree just in time and the paintballs whizzed past her harmlessly. She crouched, took aim and fired off a few shots. Neji shot back desperately, knowing he was in the worse position and then realised his paintballs had run out. Tenten smiled triumphantly, hearing the empty click and came out from behind her tree and proceeded to methodically shoot all her remaining paintballs at him. Neji held his hands up in defeat but Tenten pretended not to notice and continued firing until she ran out of paintballs.

Neji glared at her, he was completely covered in paint and he could barely see through his helmet guard because of all the paint. Those things had hurt as well; he was going to be absolutely covered in bruises tomorrow. He pulled his helmet off grumpily, he hated losing.

Tenten came over to admire her handiwork with a wide grin, "Oh dear."

"What?" he muttered looking down at the combat overalls they had been given to wear, it was completely paint splattered and most of it was still wet. He touched it gingerly with his fingers.

"You have quite a bit of paint in your hair," pointed out Tenten cheerfully as she rubbed her gloved hand into his hair, rubbing the paint in even more and then showed him her paint smeared hand.

He glared at it and wanted to scream with frustration. He was going to have a horror of a time trying to get it all out of his long hair. Neji raised his paint covered hand to her cheek and rubbed it. "You had some paint on your face," he explained to her with a smirk.

Tenten's smile fell abruptly and she rubbed some paint on his forehead, "You had some paint on your face too."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, "I think you've avenged Lee enough."

She returned his glare defiantly, craning her neck to do so. Damn him for being so tall. Tenten suddenly realised how close they were both standing to each other and quickly took a step back. She held out her hand, "Truce?"

"Truce," said Neji shaking it firmly then suddenly pulling her towards him into a tight embrace abruptly.

Tenten gasped with shock, Neji always kept his distance from everyone, literally. When he finally pulled away, she realised that her overalls were completely covered in paint and since she was only up to his chest, she had it all over her face as well!

Neji smirked at her and seeing the murderous intention in her eyes, he wisely began to run.

"Neji! Get back here!" she hollered and chased after him.

Gai and Lee watched Tenten chase after Neji rather thoughtfully. "Gai-sensei?" asked Lee finally.

"Yes Lee?"

"Do you think we should stop her?"

"No, it is, I believe, youthful love blossoming before our eyes; it would be very unyouthful indeed to nip it in the bud."

"Gai-sensei! You see so much!"

"Indeed I do Lee!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE"

And they both ran off into the sunset with tears streaming down their faces.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review and like I said before, feel free to give me ideas cos I'm seriously lacking in them :P I'll try to update this one more regularly since it's a lot easier to write drabbles than chapters. Also if anyone reading this usually reads Tenten's special assignment or one of my other fics , I am going to finish it don't worry I haven't abandoned it, it's just going to be a while till it gets up I'm afraid because of evil uni.  



	3. Sick Cycle Carousel

Abit different to my normal style but I felt like doing something different, I have no idea if I pulled it off though...Hope you all like it

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

_well I never thought I'd end up here never_

_thought I'd be standing where I am_

_I guess I kind of thought that it would be easier than this_

_I guess I was wrong now one more time_

_so when will this end it goes on and on_

_over and over and over again_

_keeps spinning around I know that it won't stop_

_till I step down from this for good_

_**Sick cycle carousel - Lifehouse**_

* * *

He woke up and stared at the sunlight creeping into his room under the cracks of the curtain. She was gone once more. He didn't need to turn around to see the still-warm empty space beside him. It ached knowing that she didn't want to wake up next to him. 

No matter how tightly he wound his arm around her before going to sleep, she would disappear by morning. It was like trying to catch the morning mist in his fingers.

Neji sat up and pulled on his clothes that had been scattered across his room in the midst of their passion. He was going to be late for training if he didn't hurry.

He reached the training grounds. Being the first to arrive, he sat down and closed his eyes to meditate. Neji only opened his eyes when he could sense the presence of all the members of his team. She had been the last to arrive.

"Sorry I'm late everyone I slept in!" apologised Tenten.

Neji studied her acting as if nothing had ever happened. She had always been one of the most difficult people for him to read, even with the Byakugan. It was part of her allure, the uncertainty and the mystery. Now it ate at him. She was a puzzle he couldn't figure out.

In a few weeks time, they would probably somehow end up doing it all over again.

* * *

Author's note: I should probably up the rating a bit :P

Also thank you to niwichan2468, WeaponsMistress, MissBlonde7788 and my sis MaRa for reviewing. It's much appreciated.


	4. Hugs

I know last chapter was quite different to my usual style, I wanted to try my hand at some romance and angst. Something with a dark bitter flavour P (Bad bad chocolate pun I know) This chapter is quite silly though, if you don't like it, blame it on the fact that I am braindead from all the cramming for exams. In fact I should get back to studying...

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers: mwth06, WeaponsMistress, Maki-Zushi and especially to Chibi Kitty who's been an absolute champ reviewng all my stories. Hope you like this chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Team Gai, I wish I did though

* * *

Neji would never admit it to anyone, most of all to Lee, but sometimes he just envied his annoying self-proclaimed rival for being able to be so touchy-feely. Growing up in a stifled, formal environment in the Hyuuga compound, no one ever, EVER, displayed public signs of affection. Yet here was his idiot sensei and his young clone embracing with tears running down their faces over some 'epiphany' they had just youthfully discovered, which just so happened to be that the delicate flower of their team had finally blossomed. 

Tenten glared at them with her arms crossed over her chest. Couldn't she even have her hair cut without having this kind of extreme reaction from the two green spandex clad ninjas on her team? It wasn't even a drastic haircut, it was more like a trim since her hair had been getting too long and she had started getting split ends to her own horror. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the crazier members of her team to finally calm down. But the waterworks, sunsets and even squirrels and rainbows kept coming. Turning around to the other sane member of her team she raised a disbelieving eyebrow, knowing that he was probably rolling his eyes at this very moment.

Instead, he was staring at Gai and Lee with a look that looked suspiciously like longing on his face. The Hyuuga prodigy then turned to her and opened his arms expectantly.

Tenten stared at him incredulously for a long while. Neji continued holding his arms out to her, as if expecting her to run into her arms so they could turn on the waterworks and run off into the sunset together springtime-of-youth style. Horror was working its way slowly through her mind, which was struggling to comprehend that she had perhaps lost her one and only sane ally on this team.

"Get. Real." she finally said, before spinning on her heel and leaving behind her sparring partner who had finally been corrupted by the madness of youth.

Neji sighed and lowered his arms, it was worth a shot. He still wanted a hug but getting one from Lee and Gai would mean that he would probably have to start wearing the green spandex abomination, orange leg-warmers and get a shiny bowl haircut. Feeling rather left out, he decided to return home to meditate. Maybe he could see if he could get a hug from Hiashi...

* * *

A/N: Awwww Neji rejection! The Naruto Shippuden episode 33 kinda inspired this, where Neji made a comment about how ridiculous Gai and Lee's race to reach the village was and then Tenten pointed out that he was getting quite into the race as well... Anyhow, feel free to give me ideas I will definitely credit you and dedicate it to you 


	5. Snow Bunnies

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, but I do own a pair of snowgoggles!

* * *

**Snow Bunnies**

Neji usually enjoyed observing 'ski crashes'. Poles and skis tangled everywhere, attempts to stand up once more and failing miserably in the process. But he hated it when it happened to him and he was currently lying on top of Naruto's friend in the snow in a rather awkward position.

_**20 minutes earlier**_

Neji scowled at his cousin and her boyfriend as he got off the ski lift. He was going to have to spend an entire week being a lamp post to the couple, not something he was looking forward to at all. Naruto had somehow managed to persuade Hinata to go down one of the black trails with him and they had gotten onto the ski lift before Neji could put a stop to it. Hinata with her skis, Naruto with his snowboard. It wasn't that Hinata was a bad skier, she was in fact quite good as she had been skiing for years, but it was a fairly dangerous one. Naruto's new snowboarding friend who had just started following them randomly that day then pointed at him then to herself then smacked her fist into her gloved hand.

_Bring it on._

So over-competitive and gung-ho, he thought sourly. He bet she looked like a man underneath all those layers as well.

Naruto had just turned up with her that morning after meeting her at breakfast. She had been wrapped from head to toe in warm clothing literally. The snow pants and jacket completely hid any shape she might have had whatsoever, and she had had a balaclava and a pair of snow goggles on already. The only reason why he knew she was a girl was because she had two pigtails sticking out of her beanie and the few times she had spoken, the muffled voice had sounded feminine. They had also been racing each other the whole morning and this run would be the tiebreaker. She was very good.

They both sped down fast, his skis glided smoothly over the snow but she was just behind him. The trees flashed by rapidly and suddenly it cleared. He heard Hinata and Naruto screaming, sounding like they had had a crash and were tumbling down a slope somewhere. Naruto's friend suddenly flashed past on his right and cut in front of him. Neji cursed and snow ploughed sharply to avoid crashing into the snowboarder. She briefly disappeared from view as she headed down the steep slope and Neji followed closely behind her. The wind rushed past his face and he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he sped down. It was what he lived for. But then there was trouble ahead... Neji watched the crash unfurl before him in slow motion helplessly. Hinata and Naruto lay in a heap at the bottom and the girl he had been racing yelped and jumped over them awkwardly before falling over into the snow. Neji managed to narrowly miss them but he had been following too close behind her and he crashed into her at full speed, his momentum pushing them down the next slope and they tumbled all the way to the bottom.

When they finally came to a stop, he found himself on top of her in a rather awkwad position. They both panted heavily trying to get their breath back and Neji knew he was going to be in a lot of pain and have a lot of bruises the next day. "Ouch," squeaked the girl underneath him and he tried to stand up but everything was tangled and that just ended up making him fall on top of her again. He finally managed to get his skis off and rolled off her. He removed his goggles and beanie, they had moved around to weird and uncomfortable positions after that fall. She groaned as she sat up rubbing her arm.

He crouched down in front of her, "Are you alright?"

She nodded and pulled off her balaclava, beanie and goggles to greedily take a few breaths of fresh air. Neji tried not to gape; she was gorgeous and looked nothing like the mannish girl he had pictured her to be in his mind.

Naruto and Hinata finally caught up to them. Naruto braked hard, spraying snow everywhere, mostly on them. "Hey, are you guys ok? That was a pretty bad tumble you took there," the blonde asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," said the brunette girl as Neji helped her stand up. "I think I lost a glove though."

Hinata held out a black ski glove, "Is this it Tenten?"

She smiled and thanked the pale-eyed girl. "That was a pretty spectacular crash wasn't it," she laughed.

"It hurt," mumbled Neji.

The four teenagers then began to make their way down the rest of the run at a much more leisurely pace. When they reached the bottom, Tenten turned to him with a wide grin, "Do you want to race again?"

"Are you crazy?" Neji replied. They were lucky they hadn't broken anything in that fall.

She shrugged, "It was fun, I want to do it again."

Neji stared at the girl for a while wondering if there was a screw loose or she was the girl of his dreams before finally nodding. "But only if we can go grab lunch first."

"Ok, and are you going to buy me lunch?" she asked him teasingly.

He smirked, "Sure why not." It looked like the rest of the ski trip was going to get a lot more fun.

* * *

**A/N:** Ah I should be studying but I needed the break. I meant to write this ages ago but never got around to it. I've neglected this so much I feel rather guilty... ohhh well... Anyway feel free to give me ideas or prompts on what to write about!


	6. A night to remember

**A birthday gift for my friend I.Heart.Hatake.Kakashi! Kinda crackish...  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

It had taken a bit of prodding and harassing to convince Neji to come out for dinner with her tonight for his birthday as a belated celebration since he was on a mission on the actual day. He had grumbled, wanting to have a quiet night in with her instead but had finally relented.

He was currently watching her intensely with a rather animalistic look in his eyes over their dinner. Tenten smiled teasingly at him as she ran her bare foot slowly up and down his leg. She had dressed up for once and was wearing a red dress that showed off her curves in all the right places and her hair was out and falling around her bare shoulders in waves. Neji leaned towards her, "You have no idea how crazy you're driving me right now," he breathed. His warm lips brushed against her ears, sending shivers down her spine.

It hadn't taken much to convince Neji to come back with her to her place. He had her pinned against her door, pressing kisses hungrily down her neck as she fumbled for her keys to her apartment. One hand had started sneaking up her leg, the other was roaming all over her body. As she found her key and shoved it roughly into the door, she had a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that she had forgotten something… Deciding to ignore it, they both tumbled into her pitch black apartment. She slammed the door shut and he pressed her up against the wall and kissed her passionately just as she switched on the lights.

"SURPRISE!"

Both Tenten and Neji froze as they realised that every single one of their friends and close family were in the same room at the very same moment.

"MY EYES! My sweet young genin team! Nooooo!" screamed Gai covering his eyes.

Lee fainted.

Hinata also turned red and fainted. Kiba and Shino desperately tried to revive her.

Jiraiya pulled out his notebook and began taking notes whilst giggling pervertedly with Naruto and Kakashi.

Tsunade shook her head and handed over the money she had bet to Shizune.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru.

Chouji continued eating from his pack of potato chips, enjoying the show.

For once, both Sakura and Ino were silent, too shocked to do or say anything.

Sai began to sketch the scene before him.

Hiashi covered Hanabi's eyes, smirked smugly at his nephew and gave him the thumbs up.

Neji cleared his throat, wondering if the silence was ever going to end. Both he and Tenten carefully extricated themselves from each other, wondering how they were ever going to live this incident down. Tenten slowly smoothed her dress down while trying to regain her composure before finally speaking.

"Happy belated birthday Neji."

* * *

**Hope you liked it E! ****LOL omg I can't believe I just wrote that...****This will probably as limeish as I could ever go! R&R please!**


	7. Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

This was for the LJ Nejiten community Childhood Contest aaaages ago and I only got around to putting it up now. Shame on me. You can read it as an AU oneshot on its own or you could read it as a prequel to my other multichapter stories _The Soldier and the Gypsy_. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto characters**

* * *

One could hardly tell if the young, scrawny street rat was indeed a girl or boy under the multiple layers of dirt and grime. The child skulked around, hungrily eyeing the loaves of bread on display. The stall owner, a plump middle-aged man with a bristling moustache shooed her away indignantly. Customers approached the stall and he busied himself serving them. The young girl crept closer to the stall, and while the owner was distracted, seized her opportunity to snatch a loaf of bread and ran, tucking it into her ragged tunic as she went. Shouts rang out after her as she dodged and weaved through the crowds expertly and scurried through openings only a child of her size could squeeze through. Soldiers ran after her, long strides quickly catching up to her short ones. The girl turned into a deserted alleyway and climbed desperately up a fence before hauling herself onto the rooftop of a quiet building. She breathed hard and grinned triumphantly down at the men who had only just caught up to her. Her grin fell when one of the soldiers began climbing up after her and she took off once more, running across the sloped tiled roofs. She skidded to a stop when she reached a dead end and turned around. The man was approaching her, a ferocious scowl on his face.

The girl nervously eyed the distance between the building she was on and the next one, could she jump the distance? She didn't particularly want to face the man's anger, she had received enough beatings to last her a lifetime in her opinion. The decision was not an easy one to make but she would rather not take her chances getting caught so she jumped. There was a brief sensation of exhilaration which quickly turned to panic; she would not make the distance. She reached out frantically for the edge of the roof and by some miracle she managed to grab on but she was hanging on for dear life to a roof tile she could feel was becoming loose under her weight. The tile finally became loose and she found herself suspended in mid-air for a second before she plummeted down to the ground, shrieking with dismay.

Fortune had been kind to her that day as she landed in a large wooden bathtub which had yet to be emptied. Water rushed into her nose and throat and she choked and spluttered as she rose to the surface. Women screamed and the girl clamboured clumsily out of the tub. She crouched down, her back against the tub as she surveyed her surroundings with wide eyes. There were many women in dressing gowns milling around staring at her and most had grabbed a broom, saucepan, or anything else nearby to fend off an attack from her. One woman with her arms on her hips approached slowly and examined her carefully. She was pretty and wore a colourful satin dressing gown which had begun to fall open. "Hey kid, are you alright?"

The street urchin backed away from her but there was nowhere she could run. She was cornered, like a rat, and she thought she was going to die.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," the woman told her in as soothing a tone as she could manage.

The young girl trembled. She had been beaten by grown-ups before, she didn't trust them but this one seemed different. The other women who were their audience began murmuring amongst themselves, lowering their make-shift weapons.

"My name is Anko, what's yours?" The lady crouched down so that she was level with the frightened child.

The street rat stared at her, trying to remember what her own name was. She had never known her parents and had been raised in an orphanage which had been run with an iron clad grip. They had not given her a name as there were many children who came and went. She had ceased returning last spring as she often found herself on the wrong side of the guardians' tempers. "No name," she finally rasped out. The words felt unfamiliar on her tongue as she hardly used her voice nowadays. There had been little need to. Street rats were invisible to the rest of society.

The dark haired lady frowned, "That's no good. But you know what, I'm going to call you Tenten because you fell out of the heavens."

* * *

It had been a brothel Tenten had landed in and the mistress had made it clear to Anko, who had taken her under her wing, that they were not a charity and couldn't afford to raise an orphan. Either Tenten had to leave or she would have to earn her keep. At the moment, the young girl was being given household chores but it would not be enough in the long run. The mistress, with her sharp eye, had noted her budding beauty beneath the boniness and had told Anko sharply that she either started training her foundling in the arts of seduction or throw her back out onto the streets. The young dark-haired woman had been furious.

Tenten stared into the darkness above her. It was late nightfall and she listened to the soft moans and grunts from the rooms above her disinterestedly. Some of the other women who lived there often gave her looks of pity, whispering that this was no place for a child to be brought up. Tenten had once asked Anko if she could stay with her here but Anko's face had darkened and refused the girl's request firmly. She was making arrangements. Tenten scowled fiercely before turning onto her side and glared at the wall, she would be abandoned and alone again.

When dawn broke, Tenten stirred and opened her eyes to find Anko sleeping beside her. Sometimes the woman crept back into their room in the early hours of the morning after entertaining men. Tenten fingered the edge of the sleeve of her brightly coloured dress reverently, she loved the colours that Anko and most of the other women wore.

* * *

Tenten sulked, a gypsy man had arrived to visit Anko that afternoon and had brought with him a boy her age. Both had been dressed in the brightest shades of green possible and had strange identical hairstyles. She thought that it looked like a bowl had been placed on their heads. The boy kept smiling widely at her and trying to talk to her. She refused to look at either of them and tried to stay hidden behind Anko. They had brought some exotic treats which they had with their lunch. Tenten had gobbled most of her food down then ate the last few mouthfuls on her plate slowly, savouring the taste in her mouth. Anko and the man called Gai watched her with mild amusement.

Anko smirked, "Anyway Gai, what news have you brought for me?"

The adults began talking about politics in low voices. Tenten only half-listened, not particularly interested in their conversation. Instead she studied the strange gypsy man and the other boy curiously, it was the first time she had ever seen gypsies this close. When she had still been at the orphanage, the guardians often told them not to trust gypsies as they would steal the clothes off your backs before selling you to slave traders in Suna. But this rather strange colourful man seemed honest and kind. The boy had apparently been found working in the mines. Her former orphanage guardians had often threatened to send her to work at the mines and it was a fate she was glad she had avoided. She had heard terrible stories from other orphans.

"Tenten, my little flower," he addressed her suddenly.

Tenten snapped her attention to him and watched him warily with dark eyes. She didn't reply.

"Would you like to see a magic trick?" he asked her with a wide grin, showing his white teeth.

The boy, Lee, began bouncing up and down in his seat excitedly. "Do the coin trick, do the coin trick!"

Tenten continued staring at Gai wordlessly.

He cast an amused look at Anko. "She doesn't talk much," the woman told him.

Gai nodded and suddenly pulled at something behind the little girl's ear. "Well what have we got here?" He showed her his large clenched fist before carefully unfurling it to reveal a gold coin sitting in his palm.

Tenten stared at it with wonder, a growing smile slowly spreading across her face. She reached out to touch the coin in his hand to make sure it was real. "Do it again," she told him, finally speaking her first words to him.

The man beamed at her and gave her the coin. He showed her both his empty palms before reaching behind her other ear and pulling out another gold coin. Tenten clasped her hands together excitedly, then patted behind her ears to check for coins. Anko smiled sadly as she watched the both of them.

* * *

It took weeks for Gai and Lee to draw Tenten out of her shell. The former street rat was wary of letting her guard down. Gai had often tried to amuse her by standing on his head and doing all kinds of silly acrobatic tricks. Lee would often attempt to do the same but with comical results. She had burst out laughing at their antics more than once. Then one day she finally joined in. The gypsy life suited Tenten well and she blossomed under Gai's nurturing. Her life prior to this just seemed so colourless and grey in comparison.

* * *

Neji used to be a sunny child until his father, whom he adored, broke his neck in a fall trying to break in a horse for his uncle. Neji had then become a withdrawn silent child and it seemed to him that his life had suddenly lost all of its colour. He often sat on top of the odd rock formation in one of the lower fields of the Hyuuga estate. His father used to bring him there and it was away from the rest of the large household. His younger cousin, Hinata, sometimes sat with him in silence. She instinctively knew that he needed some company as well as quiet. For that he was grateful.

One of his last memories of his father had been his last trip down to the main town to see the gypsies. The gypsies often brought letters to be delivered as well as exotic goods to be sold. One particular gypsy would do all kinds of acrobatic tricks as well as giving out exotic treats to the children. Hizashi always brought Neji with him whenever he had an errand to run in town and it had been the second time he saw the gypsies. Neji was always fascinated by the bright outfits and the noise. Bells attached to the caravans tinkered constantly and there was always a troupe making music and singing with their lilting voices while animals and children wandered freely through the camping grounds. No matter how loud and chaotic it was, it still sounded like music to his ears.

He had been standing by his father's side with wide eyes as he took in the colourful chaos around him that he never ever saw back at home. Hizashi and the gypsy man who regularly looked after their letters exchanged greetings; Hizashi quietly asking for news, and the green-garbed gypsy replying animatedly. That man was an extremely colourful man and had the oddest hairstyle he had ever seen. It looked just like a bowl. Children's laughter rang through the air a split-second before a boy and girl who looked to be his age came running out of the long grass holding chains of wild daisies.

"Gai! Look we found flowers!" they both exclaimed in unison rather breathlessly.

"Good work!" he told them as he crouched down to have a better look at the flowers. The girl then deftly wound one of the chains around his neck.

"What about our little friend here?" Gai asked her teasingly.

Tenten turned towards the two Hyuugas and smiled shyly before holding out a daisy chain to Neji. The young Hyuuga accepted it as gravely as a young boy his age could but he couldn't help smiling bashfully back at the girl, whom he thought looked like one of his cousin's dolls. His father smiled with amusement as he watched the exchange between his son and the little gypsy girl.

Gai bellowed with laughter and then he crouched down in front of Neji. "Would you like to see a magic trick young man?"

"Do the coin trick, do the coin trick!" Lee exclaimed bouncing around them. Tenten quickly joined in with her adopted brother.

"Well what do we have here," Gai reached behind Neji's ear and opened his clenched fist to reveal an exotic sweet sitting in the middle of his palm.

A wide smile of amazement broke across his face as he checked behind his ears for more sweets. Neji was given the sweet and it tasted heavenly. There was a hint of cinnamon in the sweetness in his mouth and something else that he could not quite describe. He was then sent off to play with the gypsy children while his father exchanged more news with Gai. The other boy, Lee, had already gone barrelling into the long grass and shouted that he was going to be the first one to bring back another daisy chain.

Tenten then turned to him and held out her small hand. Neji took it without a second thought and they both ran into the long grass to find daisies to make more chains.

It had been one of the happiest days of his childhood.


	8. Chocolate

A drabble written for the Chocolate prompt in the Nejiten Festival meme. Probably about time I put something to do with chocolate in here considering the title of this collection heehee. Enjoy! It's a little bit naughty

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Naruto franchise. I just love it.**

* * *

**Chocolate**

Neji Hyuuga was starting to feel a little warm under his collar.

He watched with fascination as his female team mate bit slowly into her chocolate cake, closed her eyes and groaned with delight. She chewed carefully, savouring the taste and licked her lips to catch any wayward crumbs. It was the most unintentionally sensual act and his thoughts immediately began to wander into the dirtier parts of his mind.

"Oh Neji," she groaned again, after taking her second bite. "Eating this is like having a chocolate orgasm!"

Neji started to sweat, did the room just get warmer? He was having a lot of difficulty not thinking about eating chocolate off the body of this particular team mate of his. His thought process continued frolicking in the dirtiest parts of his mind against his will.

"Did you want to try some?" Tenten held up a spoonful of cake and leaned forward towards him. His eyes dropped involuntarily to the better view of her cleavage that she was unknowingly offering to him.

"No," he finally managed to force out in a rather strangled voice.

"Are you sure?" she said teasingly before putting it into her mouth very very slowly. "Mmmmmmm, it's sooo good," she moaned. Then she started licking the chocolate icing off the spoon tantalisingly slowly.

His brain literally stopped in its tracks, his eyes fixated on her mouth as it basically made love to the chocolate covered spoon. "I... I have to go," he stammered out, unable to take this form of torture anymore and fled the cafe.

Tenten stared after him feeling rather bewildered. They had often eaten meals together after training sessions but the last few times they had eaten together, he had seemed increasingly nervous about something. Neji sure was acting strangely these days.


	9. Train ride

Short AU drabble, enjoy. Unfortunately I keep hitting writer's block with my other stories... Please R&R

**Disclaimer: this work is based on the characters from the Naruto series and do not belong to me in any way, shape or form. **

* * *

Tenten pushed her way through the human commuter version of canned sardines just before the train door closed. The train began moving suddenly and she stumbled into the guy in front of her, trod on his toe and would have knocked the woman next to her over if it hadn't been for an arm grabbing her around her waist to steady her. "Sorry," she gasped and looked up into the eyes of her rescuer. Startling pale lavender eyes stared back into her own brown eyes from the most perfect face she had ever seen. Straight nose, sharp balanced features and the most wonderful crooked smile…

"Could you get off my foot please?" he asked her politely.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she replied breathlessly as she hastily backed away from him. Unfortunately, she couldn't get very far in a packed crowd so she ended up stepping on another person's toe and apologising again, repeatedly. The train jerked to a stop and she lost her balance briefly again. How embarrassing, she must look like the clumsiest fool, Tenten thought to herself. Only one or two people pushed their way out of the carriage but another three got on. It would be a few more stops before the carriage emptied out enough for there to be space to breathe again. To pass the time, she tried to study the guy whose foot she trod on discreetly but as she was crammed right up against him with her face practically pressed against his chest, she could only look at his shoes. Adidas sneakers, sporty yet fashionable? She examined her own feet. The pedicure she gave herself two weeks ago were growing out and becoming chipped and her sandals were very well worn.

The carriages were starting to empty out slowly and when seats finally became available, Tenten grabbed one by the window. The guy followed her and sat directly opposite. He looked out disinterestedly and then closed his eyes and sat still. He had long dark hair tied back neatly which was an uncommon amongst most guys their age but it suited him perfectly. She suddenly felt very conscious of her hair, which she didn't even bother to brush that morning, pulled back into two messy buns. Her fringe was falling all over her face as well. Jeans and a polo shirt, very preppy, totally not her type at all, she told herself. Guys like him go out with the vain vacuous types and didn't even give girls like her a second glance. Not wanting to be caught staring, Tenten pulled her book out of her bag and began reading.

* * *

He opened his eyes after a while, and studied the girl sitting opposite him. She looked like she had just gotten out of bed. Big soulful brown eyes and the most sensual looking mouth he had ever seen on a girl. Her rosebud lips parted slightly as she continued reading her book and Neji caught himself wondering what it would feel like to kiss them. He banished those thoughts very quickly and tried to focus on something else. Like the messy hair and the mismatching jewellery and the clothes that looked like something she found at an op-shop. Not his usual type but definitely attractive. There was something about her that intrigued him, she wasn't like the girls he seemed to normally attract who would wear too much makeup and were too conscious of their appearance. She definitely had fashion sense but she didn't seem to care about what the latest trends were. He could usually sum up a person immediately but she was not easy to define at all. She didn't look greenie enough to be a hippie, and the novel she was reading didn't scream angry feminist either. Nice legs too.

* * *

The automated voice informed her that they had reached her train station. She looked up, startled, she had completely lost track of time. The train slowed then jolted to a stop and Tenten scrambled around to pick up her things. "Excuse me," the guy sitting opposite her was holding a train ticket in his hand. "You dropped this."

"Thank you," she smiled gratefully at him. Tenten shoved the ticket between the pages of her book and hurried through the train doors before they could close.

It was only until she got home that she opened her book again to continue reading. The ticket fell out onto the floor and she noticed that something was written on the back of the train ticket. She frowned slightly, wondering what it was, and picked it up to inspect it more closely. Then she grinned widely, written on the back of her ticket in neat cursive handwriting was 'Coffee?' and the guy on the train's name and phone number.


	10. Ipod Shuffle

Hi! I'm back! Well kinda, i hope... I thought I'd give this a go since I haven't written anything in aaaaages (yes I was alive this whole time in case people were wondering what happened to me) and needed to get the creative juices flowing again. Don't worry, I am working on the final chapter of WNT, 5 pages so far!

* * *

**Nejiten ipod shuffle**

**1****. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like. **

**2****. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle. **

**3****. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!**

**4****. Do ten of these, then post them.**

_I have a feeling that this could go very very badly… which is why this is probably going to be the first and last time I will ever attempt this. _

_Just note that all my rantings interspersed among my attempts at this are in italics._

* * *

**1. Promentory – Trevor Jones from "The Last of the Mohicans"**

_What does Promentory mean? _

The bonfires cast an orange hue on to everything in the village square. Neji threaded his way through the people on the edges who were either too shy, scared or injured to dance. He hated these village dances. Girls were always batting their lashes at him and pulling him to dance when he was clearly not in the mood. Tenten, his long-time childhood friend caught his eye and smiled cheekily. She made her way towards him and held out her hand expectantly. He figured it wouldn't hurt to dance with her this one time.

**

* * *

2. On Directing – Tegan and Sara**

"You're meant to make a right here", snapped Tenten.

"I can't," growled Neji through gritted teeth. "It's a one way street."

"You're useless!" muttered Tenten.

"Fine! You drive then since you can't even read maps properly!" he retorted sharply.

"I can't," she said sulkily, "My lost my licence for speeding."

**

* * *

3. Ilyena – Mars Volta**

_Errrrrr…. First time listening to this song so here goes…._

Tenten peered from around the corner of the wooden crate she was hiding behind and counted the number of droids she needed to destroy before reaching the safety of the research centre doors where the other survivors were waiting for her. She made a mental inventory of the weapons she had on her, hand grenades, rifle, hand guns and a stupid baseball bat. Snorting derisively, she placed the top of the hand grenade between her teeth, pulled sharply and threw it into the middle of number of droids milling around.

BANG

She pulled the goggles over her face and ran through the smoke and chaos, shooting at any droids that started coming at her. Skidding sharply when she finally reached the doors, she banged hard.

"About time," muttered Neji when he pulled the door open and yanked her in.

**

* * *

4. Jesus Christ was an only Child – Modest Mouse**

_What? What the heck am I meant to write? This sucks! SKIP!_

**

* * *

5. A Slow Dance – Gyroscope**

Tenten tugged at the belt around her waist and was highly tempted to kick off her high heels as her feet were killing her. She scanned the faces of all the other students around her and her heart sank. He wasn't going to come. He had told her what a stupid pointless tradition it was even though they were meant to be dating and do these kind of stupid traditions together. Her vision started to become blurry and she stared hard at the ground willing herself not to cry at the prom.

A hand took hers into that person's own palm. She looked up at Neji and he smiled at her sheepishly. "Dance with me?"

**

* * *

6. Flugufrelsarinn – Sigur Ros**

_You've got to be kidding me. Can I like skip? Is this even a proper word in whatever language they sing in?_

There were times where he felt lost for words, especially when Lee would do something incredibly stupid. Like innocently buying hash cookies from a shady looking person who told him that these were the best cookies in Konoha and bringing them to a party where everyone had a few pieces and were now feeling ridiculously high. Neji stared up at the ceiling, which seemed to swirl magically. Tenten drew patterns on his torso with a permanent black marker and smiled at him lazily. He briefly wondered how his shirt had come off. In fact everyone was down to their underwear for some reason. Right, strip-poker until Tenten had gotten bored and decided that she wanted to decorate him with some body art. Unfortunately she couldn't find any of the dyes that tattoo artists used, she had been planning on improvising with her senbon needles….

**

* * *

7. Get it Together – Emiliana Torrrini**

Tenten felt numb. She stared at the wall and tried to block out all the mental images that insisted on replaying over ad over again in her head. Lee had stopped by yesterday and tried to persuade her to get out of bed but she didn't have the energy, she couldn't get out of bed no matter how much she wanted to. It hurt too much. People say that time heals all wounds but it wasn't impossible to die of a broken heart.

**

* * *

8. Blame it on the Tetons – Modest Mouse**

She flicked through the channels on her TV, trying to find something vaguely interesting to watch. Something that could take her mind off the moans and grunts coming from upstairs. Was that too much to ask for? She hated her life and most of all she hated her new neighbours. The bags under her eyes were getting bigger and darker each day and Neji had even expressed concern yesterday when she hadn't quite hit bullseye during training.

There was a knock on her door. She dragged herself off her couch and opened the door to see Neji there with a box of pizza. "Hey, thought I'd see how you were." He looked away uncomfortably, he wasn't good at the caring team mate kind of thing.

"I haven't slept in days because of them," she replied monotone and pointed at her ceiling.

He looked up and paled as he heard one of the neighbours have a particularly wonderful orgasm.

"Can I sleep at your place tonight?" she begged him. He nodded mutely, the tip of his ears turning red.

**

* * *

9. The View – Modest Mouse**

Neji wasn't going to complain. The new neighbour in his apartment block, whose bedroom he could see quite clearly into, had a habit of wandering around her room in just her underwear. She had a very nice figure and was very hot. He wondered how he could introduce himself to her in a casual way, but nobody introduced themselves to their neighbours anymore these days.

There was knock on his door. He opened it up and tried not to gawk at his new neighbour standing in front of him, with clothes on unfortunately. "Hi, my name is Tenten," she said with a wide grin on her face and extended her hand for him to shake.

**

* * *

10. Downtown – Tegan and Sara**

_I'm running out of juice, I can't do this anymore *cries*_

"So this is downtown," Tenten said mockingly as she waved her arm at the streets and building in front of them.

"Yes I can see that, just because I've been away for a year doesn't mean I've completely lost all sense of direction around Konoha," he muttered.

"Well it's not like you even spent much time in this area anyway since you were always dragging me to the training fields to practice your latest jutsu," she retorted and poked her tongue out at him childishly. She grabbed his hand and dragged him down a secluded little lane. "Here we are, this is the place I wanted to show you," she turned to him with a huge grin.

He sighed.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied dryly and followed her inside.

* * *

_A/N: Ok I really suck, I seriously can't write under pressure, which explains why I do lousy in exams but better on assignments. I blame it on the songs that came up! They were too hard for me! Like seriously, how am I meant to tie in 'Jesus was an only child' with Neji and Tenten? And that Sigur Ros song? I looked up the meaning and apparently "Flugufrelsarinn" means "The Fly Freer" so I guess I was pretty far off the mark in my drabble haha. _

_I don't think I will be doing this again. Ever._


End file.
